MODEST MAMA

Friday, February 27, 2009

"Mama. Do you remember when we were at that house with the many rooms and there was that woman there, Mrs. What's-Her-Name, and we were there to do that thing with those people and she had a boy with her and I think that he had freckles. Well that boy who I think might have been a teenager, said that there was a ghost room in this other house with an attic. And we heard those noises coming from the attic when we went to that other house with those other people, one of the ones who wore that shirt, and the boy was there and there was also a girl."

Monday, February 23, 2009

Today is the first day of Lent in the Byzantine calendar. We have decided to do a "Deed" jar with the boys this year. Everytime they do a good deed or act in a charitable way they will get a jelly bean to add to the jar. Starting schoolwork on their own, setting the table without being asked, etc., all these things can earn a bean. On Easter Sunday we will divide up the beans and they can either eat them or cash them in for some piggy bank money.

There are some rules that go alone with this. If they ask for a bean, they don't get one. They can say why they think someone else should get one, but they can never request one for themselves. There is no limit to the amount of beans they can earn in a day. They do not each get their own bean jars because that would defeat the purpose of helping each other to act in charitable ways.One of the beans that Isaac earned today was for being so quiet at the evening Liturgy that he attended with Michael.

Okay, they aren't really jelly beans. They are Skittles. When I was at Sam's Club I was shocked to see that Jelly Beans were over $12.00 for the container. A 54 oz bag of Skittles was just over $5.00. Skittles are much more popular around here anyways.

Isaac completed a lapbook for the book A Snowy Day which was very appropriate since that is all it seems to do weatherwise around here. I am not going to be surprised if it snows through the summer. Henry's favorite activity is playing in water. He loves when the sink is filled with dishes and he can watch them overflow with water.

We are trying hard to potty-train, but sometimes I just get tired of washing pants and little pairs of underwear.

Margaret is always finding new places to go, including inside closets.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

We had a busy weekend around here. Here are some photos that recap some of our adventures.

Margaret is looking especially cute in her jeans as she pulls up to standing on a school room chair.

The boys LOVED their Hawaii shirts from Grammy and Grandpa Bob. They insisted on wearing them even though they had to wear other shirts underneath (It was in the low 30s on Saturday. And snowing again- SIGH).

Notice Henry is shooting a gun while I take the photo. Now imagine his high-pitched sing-song voice, "I am going to shoot the camera- BAM!"

Taking a photo with silly faces distracts Henry from his shooting.

This is very interesting. If you are eating a Fun Dip from your Valentine's Day goodies and you get tired of your brothers coming up and begging licks off you; your best bet is too hide. Now, this gets more challenging if your folks are getting ready for company and they won't let you leave the kitchen with a bag of colored sugar. Even just standing at the table gets a "Sit down with that!" or "Stay at the table until you are finished." You need to find a solution that will please the parents and keep you out of view of your needy brothers.

Soultion: Squeeze into the space between the fridge and the chimmney. You'll be nice and warm from the heat vent, and your brothers won't be able to notice you when they come to the kitchen door. Word of advice: Try not to knock over the mop on your little sister who pulls up on the table without noticing that you are hiding. Her screams and cries may blow your cover.

One never knows when you might need a fleece hat in the middle of the night.

Especially when this fleece hat keeps the goblins and cabbage away.

It must be working because I don't see any goblins or cabbage anywhere!

Friday, February 13, 2009

Okay, so this first photo isn't from the preschool valentine's day party, but it is so cute I had to fit it in. Margaret is trying to get up the ladder to Isaac's bed.Here's my preschooler receiving his first valentine. What, no candy?!?!Henry made a pretty sweet valentine's hat to wear at the party.

Here is Henry waiting patiently with the girls for a cookie. He refused to sit too close, even though he was next to his best buddy Maddie.

Notice Margaret in the background. She had never been in a walker before and had no idea how to respond. As long as the tray always had food on it she was fine. I was glad because she was well-contained.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Okay, the weather has perked up for us, although snow is in the forecast for several days next week. In the meantime, I am using this break in the winter weather to sit on my deck, drink Diet Cokes with Allison, and tell the kids to "Go play." Ahhh. The good life.

Monday, February 9, 2009

My plea was heard and we have had two semi-nice days in a row. I say semi-nice because although it has been sunny, it has only been in the upper 30's and low 40's. I am not countng Saturday as one of the nice days because although it was almost 60 degrees, it was the first warm day and so all the brown snow and ice melted into large brown puddles and all the grass was muddy and everything was wet. You get the point. So the boys played outside today for about five hours, but I didn't take any photos so these are all from last week.

Isaac took this photo and the one below of Market.

He also took this one of Henry.

Here are the boys examining some school-work activity of Isaac's. Henry has become obsessed with the hats that Mema has knitted and has taken over Margaret's because his is not quite done.

Well, Market has figured out how to get her own snack.

Isaac wrote his name with pretzles.

Having fun in the downstairis playroom.

I love this little hoodie from Allison.

Another party dress. Mike and I have decided that Margaret'e eyes are looking less bright blue and so they may actually be changing. I doubt they will ever be brown since the boys all had their dark brown shortly after birth. But who knows? The doctors all said that her awesome birth mark would be gone by now and she still has it.

Henry is learning to undress himself. Here he has taken his shirt off for the first time completely by himself. He still has his cute little toddler body, but you can tell he is starting to lose the tummy and cubby little legs.

This was drawn this summer when my Mama and I took the boys to a festival at Twin Lakes.

Here's a photo of Margaret getting into all the tapes and CD's in the bedroom. I am not sure what she likes more: getting all the stuff out, or the screams and the cries of the boys as they say "Ohhhh Nooooo Maaaarrrggggaaareeetttt!"

About our family

We are a cloth diapering, God loving, homeschooling family of seven trying to figure out what the heck is going on.
Dr. Smarty Pants and Seamstress Extraordinary were married in 2001 and have five mini-Smarty Pants Extraordinaries running amuck in the foothills of Western Pennsylvania.